The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
To research and develop various strains, hybrids, genotypes of corn, seed producers engineer, plant, grow, pollinate, cross-pollinate and analyze many different varieties of seed. Typically for such research, a single field is subdivided into multiple research, or test, plots, each containing plants with distinct germplasm-treatment combinations. Each test plot typically comprises one or more rows of plants comprising 5-15 plants in each row, and is purposely separated by a gap, or alleys, of no plants to maintain the identity of the plant material within each respective test plot. Hence, there are typically many alleys in a research field, often comprising 10-30 feet of space with no plants.
In various instances, in order to control the type of pollen present in a growing area, the tassels of certain corn plants are removed to prevent those plants from producing pollen. Removal of the tassels is typically referred to as detasseling. Automated systems and methods have been developed to perform the detasseling process. These systems/methods typically employ a mobile platform that traverses the test plot(s) a first time to cut off the leaves of the top portion of the corn plants, then traverses the test plot(s) a second time, after the tassels have started to emerge past the cut leaves (e.g., 24 to 48 hours later), to pull the tassels off/from of the plants.
In known systems, to cut the top portions off the corn plants, a cutter assembly (referred to as the cutter head) is mounted to the mobile platform and the mobile platform is moved through the respective test plot(s), whereby the cutter head cuts off the top portion of the plants. Typically, to automatically control the height above the ground of the cutter head, so that only a desired amount of the top portion of each corn plant is cut off, the system includes a sensor assembly. Typically, the sensor assembly is connected to a boom arm that positions the sensor assembly a distance (e.g., the length of the boom arm, e.g., 2-3 feet) in front of the cutter head, so that the sensor assembly theoretically senses the height of the next plant in the row to be cut. Specifically, the sensor assembly theoretically senses the height of the single plant located a distance (e.g., the length of the boom arm, e.g., 2-3 feet) in front of the plant currently being cut, whereafter the height of the cutter head is quickly adjusted so that the top portion of the next plant in the row is cut off.
Generally, the mobile platform moves through test plot at a desired speed (e.g., 3-8 mph) such that the height of the cutter head must be quickly adjusted based on the sensed height of the next plant in the row. However, due to the quick adjustment, when the next plant in the row is sensed to be shorter than the present plant being cut, or in various instances is missing, the cutter head will lower, or drop, before it has completed cutting the top off the present plant, resulting in the present plant (e.g., the plant prior to the sensed shorter plant) being cut lower than desired. That is, in such instances, due to the cutter head being lowered quickly, too much of the present plant will be cut off. Additionally, when the mobile platform comes to the end of a row (e.g., an alley) where no further plants are growing, which is frequent with small test plots, the sensor assembly will sense the absence of a plant, resulting in the cutter head being quickly lowered, thereby cutting the last plant(s) in the row too short.
In instances where the next plant to be cut is taller than the present plant being cut, the cutter head will be lifted, or raised, before it has completed cutting the top off the present plant, resulting in the present plant not having enough, if any, of the top portion cut off. That is, in such instances, due to the cutter head being lifting quickly, not enough of the top portion of the present plant will be cut off such that the respective tassel may not be properly exposed and be unable to be removed by the puller.
Additionally, in known systems, once the top portions of the plants have been cut off, the cutter head must be physically removed from the mobile platform and replaced with a puller assembly (referred to as the puller head). Subsequently, the mobile platform is moved through the respective test plot(s), whereby the puller head pulls the tassels out/off of the respective plants. As with the cutter head, the height of the puller head is controlled by the sensor assembly connected to the boom arm. Typically, in order to remove the cutter head or the puller head, and replace it with a respective puller head or a cutter head, the mobile platform must be removed from the field (e.g., driven to a maintenance shop) where the respective head can be removed from the mobile platform, stored, and replaced. Physically removing the cutter head or the puller head and replacing it with the respective puller head or cutter head is laborious and time consuming.